Centrifugal extbactob



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRAN K M. WATKINS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

onn'rn'lroen. nx'rnao'ron.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

Application filed August 8, 1916, Serial No. 118,879. Renewed October 26, 1917. Serial No. 198,141.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. Warnms, a citizen of the United States, and res dent of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Centr fual Extractors, of which the following 18 a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference 'bein had to the accompany ng drawing, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to devices for extracting liquids from various substances and more particularly to that class pf such devices wherein centrifugal force is employed for removingthe water from clothes and other articles which have been washed, though it is capable of advantageous use for a variety 0 other purposes as will be readily ap arent.

ne object of myinventionis the provi-v sion of means whereby, when articles have been placed within the device and subjected to centrifugal force such articles may be easily removed and the device .re-loaded and again set in operation in a very small frac tion of the time hithertorequired for the unloading and re-loading of centrifugal extractors. l

Another object of my invention is the provision of a device in which the most delicate fabrics may be subjected to centrifugal force without risk of in ury. l Another object of my invention 15 to so construct the device that during the extracting 0 oration, a large amount of a r wilbbe force through'the contents of the machine thereby thoroug ture. 4

The novelty of myinvention will be here inafter more fully set forth and specifically pointed out intb'e claims.

n h t nse Figure 1 represents side vi -w a com- "lately (J'igallli l ac ice. in j my iii'ehtib'n n asul We term sense 1 can:

'ii'r'ieswhei-e terrier quantities ci'elet es en i e s to time 1 n ,i'. isasife e to -nr and, and associated parts scum a n th naehine. H p

s is avi'ew corresponding to Fig. 2,

showing the false Bottom, partitions, and athly aerating the articles and tached parts elevated out of the basket and in proper position for unloading.

Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the interior parts of the basket.

The same. numerals of reference are used to indicate identical arts in all the figures.

To enable those ski led in the art to which my invention pertains to comprehend the same I have shown, as one form in which my invention maybe embodied, a base 1, Fig. 1, provided with a curb 2 and a series of standards 3 supportinga superstructure 4.

Suitabl journaled within the superstructure 4 an base 1 is a vertical shaft 5 shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, which is driven by a pulleyfi through the medium of a belt passed over guide pulleys 7 and drive pulley 8 mounted on and driven by a horizontal shaft 9 which is preferably located near the lower a brake shoe 14 which is adapted for contact with the pulley 6 and arrest its motion after the drive belt has been shifted to the loosepulley.

As shown in- Figs. 2 and 3 the lower end of the vertical shaft 5 is provided with a basket 15 which is preferably formed of sheet metal and has a flat bottom with an inclined side wall, the upper edge of the basket being preferably turned outward to form a flange whereby the basket is maintained in proper form.

A hub 16 provided with an operating groove 17 at its upper end is mounted free to slide on the shaft- 5 and carries, at its lower end a disk 18 which latter is of a diameter equal to the inside diameter of the bottom of the basket 15 and when in the position shown in Fig. 2, the disk 18 becomes a false bottom for the basket 15.

A- series ofpa'rtitiohs 19 are secured to the hub 16 and disk 18 these partitions bein}; of suehsijze t at w on lowered into the basket 1s as shown in Fig. 2, the partitions contact with the inner face of the tapered wall of the basket and extend a very slight distance above-the top edge of the said basket.

granular opening A rin 20 shown more clearly in Fig. 4 is secure to the upper edges of the partitions 19 and is of an outside diameter approximately equal to the. outwardly extending flange of the basket 15 and when occupying the position shown in Fig. 2 a very narrow is provided between the ng 20 and the asket 15 and the liquld being expressed from the contents of the basket escapes through this opening into the base 1, from which it is drained after the usual manner of draining centrifugal extractors.

In order to means for elevating the hub 16 and its associated .parts I have shown an elevating arm 21 Fig. 1 which is raised and lowered by the lead screw 22, which latter is adapted to be operated through an ordinary tram of bevel gears 23 shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. Two of the bevel gears 23 are mounted on a horizontal shaft 24 which latter is provided 'with a splined clutch member .controlled through the link 25 and handle 26. A vertical shaft 27 provided with throwout fingers 28 is mounted adjacent the elevating arm 21 in such manner that when the arm 21 has reached it upper or lower position the vertical shaft 27-will-be automatically operated to disengage the drive for the lead screw 22 thereby preventing injury to the machine.

It will be evident that when m invention is used in comparatively smal sizes the power elevatin' mechanism may be dispensed with the hub 16 and associated parts may be elevated by hand.

The operation of the device as shown in Fi 1 is as follows: The guard doors 29 are sli in channels thus giving access to the interior of the machine and permitting the introduction into the basket 15 of the articles to be subjected to centrifugal force, the arm 21 inthe meanwhilebein in the osition shown in Fig.- 1 with the ger 30 disengaged from the operatin groove 17 of the hub 16 so as notto inter ere with the oscillating motion of the basket in operation, and the interior arts of the basket 15 being in the position s own in Fig. 2. The tight and loose'mechanlsm 12 is now 0 rated to im art rotation to the vertical 8 aft 5 throu the medium of the drive belt,'tlie guar doors in the meanwhile having been closed." The revolution of the vertical shaft 5 and with it the basket 15 and contents is continued for a definite period of time after which the rotation is stopped by againoperating the ti ht and loose ulley mechanism to shift t e.drive belt into the loose pulley and the brake mechanism 13 is operated, thereby a; lying the brake shoe 14 to the pulley 6 an bringing the vertical shaft 5 and its associated parts to rest. To remove the conter..- from the basket 15 the handle 26 is operated to engage the rovide a power operated .f

With m' device the rais' of the false bottom an the artitions Ollllif the tapered basket releases t e contents and permits the basket to emptled immediately, the operator reaching through the o ening in the ring 20 and pressing against t e contents between any pair of the partitions 19,-forces the contents toward himself and .drops them into any suitable container which he has placed immediately in front of the base 1 and then turns the ring 20 and its associated parts a quarter of a turn and removesthe contents from that section and so on until all of the contents have; been removed whereupon the hub 16 and Its associated parts are' again lowered fromthe position sh'ownin Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 2 through. the medium of the mechanism before described whereupon the basket ma 7 be ain loaded, the brake released, and t e vertical shaft set in motion as before described. j Y a l Y a It is to be observed thatwhen the drive belt wh ch passes over the tight and loose pulleys,: 1 s on the loose ullcy and the vertical shaft 5 is at rest, the orizontal shaft 24 is in motion, bein driven through the medium of a vertical be t and a pair of pulleys, the lower of which is attached to the loose pulley on the shaft 9, so that the lead screw'22 ma be rotated in either direction to elevate or ower the'arm 21-and with it thehub 16 and its associated parts.

It will be a parent may be emp oyed for 0 herein described without in' anyway departlng fnom the spirit of my and further that the nuni r of which are adapted to be lowere basket, the arrangement 'of these partitions the cdnstruct1on, and the construction an perating" the 'parta artitions theta variety resent invention 'into the arrangement of the parts :associated' with these partitions form only an incidental part of the mventionand ma be greatly varied or modified to suit condit ons particular time"or place or in any particular me of business to which centrifugal extractors area plicableor in which they-are used. Parti-cu ar attention is tobe paid to the fact thatnthe-side walls-of the basket are preferably imperforate and present a perfectly smooth surface to the articles being subjected to. centrifugal force.

While; have Shown the basket 15 arranged wlth its largediameter upward and secured to the verticalshaft 5 and while existing at any evident that these parts may be all-reversed and the basket inverted in which case the basket 15 would be' mounted to slide vertically on the shaft and its end partly cut out to afford means for introducing articles into the basket, and a disk of a diameter" equal to the large diameter of the basket may be fixed to the vertical shaft in such manner that when it is desired'to unload the extractor the basket would be raised thereb leaving its contents on the disk from whic such contents could be easily removed, and in carrying the construction to a complete form a false to be secured to t e vertical shaft and partitions interposed between saidfalse top and the lower disk so that when the basket would be raised to unloading position the articles therein would be positively extracted therefrom. As a further modification the partitions 19 could be attached to the basket itself and be raised from among the contents when the basket is elevated.

. It is to be observed that during the op eration of th machine the'contents of t basket will be localized adjacent to the outlet for the moisture, the more .weight of the contents serving to accomplish this localization, and that the rapid rotation of'th-e baskets and the artitions will convert the structure into :1 cm of centrifugal blower, the result being that a large volume of air will be forced throu h the contents of the basket and, due to 516 localization of the contents, the air will be forced through a substa tlally uniform section of contents, thereby thoroughly aerating the latter and assisting in the removal of the moisture.

Having. thus fully described my mven; tion, I claim:

1. In a centrifugal extractor the combination of a basket having an imperforate inclined side wall, whereby when centrifugal force is a plied the contents exhibit tendencies of ing thrown out of the basket, means for maintaining contents within said basket during ,theapplication of centrifugal force, while permitting the escape of ii aid from the basket, radial artitions attac ed o said means, and moving with the same and lying within said basket when in operating position, and means for causing the elative axial movement between said basket nd said maintaining means.

2. In a centrifugal xtractor the c0mbinaun of a basket with an impcrforate inaimed side wall, whereby when centrifunl force is applied the contents exhibit Qsndencies of being thrownout of the basket, "deans for maintaining contents within'said "-asket against the action produced by and curing the application of centrifugal force,

of an annular form, could while permitting the escape of liquid from the basket, a disk bearing a fixed relation to said mamtainm means and occupying a osition adjacent t e small diameter of said asket when in operating position, and means for causing the relative axial movement between said disk and maintaining means and said basket and whereby articles which have been introduced into said basket and subjected to centrifugal force may be removed therefrom.

3. In a centrifugal extractor the combination of a basket-having an imperforate inclined side wall, wherebywhen centrifugal force "is applied the contents exhibit tendencies of being thrown out of the basket, means for maintaining contents within said basket against the action 'of centrifugal force and during the ap lication of centrifugal force, while permitting the escape .of liq-. uid from. the basket, a disk bearing a fixed relation to said maintaining means and cocupymg a position adjacent the small. diameter of said basket when inoperatin position, radial partitions between said disk and said maintaining means, and means for causing'a relative axial movement between said basket and said disk and associated parts whereby articles which have been introduced intoisaid basket and subjected to centrifugal force may be removed therefrom. 4. In a centrifugal extractor the combinatlon of a basket havin an inclined imperforate side wall, where y when centrifugal force is applied the contents exhibit tenden cies of being thrown out of the basket, means for maintaining contents within said basket against the action of centrifugal force acting along the-lines of the inclined wall of the basket, while rmitting the escape of liquid from the time, a false bottom, and means forraising said maintaining means and said false bottom out of said basket. to release and permit the removal of the contents.

5. In a centrifugal extractor the combination of an imperforato frusto-conoidal basket, a false bottom for said basket, radial partitions attached to said false bottom, a ring sha ed cover attached to said partitions, an occupying a position adjacent the large diameter of the basket when in operative position thus cooperating with the basket to maintain its contents therein and permit the escape of liquid, and means for andmeans for causing a relative axial movement between said basket and said maintaining means whereby the articles may be released from. said basket.

7. In a centrifugal extractor the combination of a basket having an imperforate inclined side wall which is maintained in position by a support in the small diameter thereof, a load manipulating device mounted to pass through the large end of said basket and coiiperating with the large end thereof to 'form an outlet for liquid, and means whereb said load manipulating devices and sai basket may be moved with relation to each other to release the load from the basket, and means for operating the basket.

8. In a centrifugalextractor a basket structure having an imperforate inclined side wall means for maintaining contents within said basket during its operation said means cooperating with the large end of said basket to form an outlet for liquid adjacent the large end, and means within the basket comprising partitions for forcing air through the contents of the basket during its 0 eration.

' 9. n a centrifu al extractor a basket having an inclined side wall, a combined load retainin and releasing device normally mounte therein, and coiiperatin therewith to form an outlet for liquid, an means, for causing relative movement between said basllret and said device for the release of the 10. In a centrifu l extractor a basket having an inclined side wall with an unobstructed o ening at its large end, a load mani ulatmg device normally located within'said basket and cooperating therewith to form an utlet for liquid and air-forcing elements pomprisin blades or partitions within said basket uring its operation for forcing air throu h the load.

F- ANK M. WATKINS.

Witnesses:

I. B. DAVIDSDN, Gmno Gonna. 

